Dine Magazine South Florida

550 Wines in Two Days — Only at the 2010 American Fine Wine Competition

It’s Sunday afternoon. Why not cozy up to a glass of wine? What about 550 of them? This afternoon I stopped by Lincoln Culinary Institute to check in on the American Fine Wine Competition, and for someone who doesn’t frequent wine competitions very often, I was in awe. I was surrounded by a room full of wine.

I’m not talking about 10, 50 or even 100 bottles of wines, but hundreds of wines lined the room — bottles of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Petite Syrah and more appeared in every direction. Wine lovers rejoice! This is the best the country has to offer.

Over the 2 day period, the judges this year will taste over 550 wines. The process is like this: Wine are poured in private and then brought out to the judging tables by students from LCI (Lincoln Culinary Institute). The glasses are marked to correspond to the individual bottles. The judges taste a series of wines at a time, of a given grape and price range. They jot down their notes, share their thoughts with the other judges at the table and in order for a wine to receive a particular medal, 75% or more most agree. When 100% of the judges agree that a certain wine should receive a gold, a Double Gold medal is awarded.

So it was time to taste some wine, and taste they did. I was even lucky enough to join in for a round — but for 80 rounds, it takes a talented individual — and this competition brings together some of the best in the business including Charlie Arturaola, Cynthia Betancourt (Azul), Jenny Benzie (formerly of Cafe Boulud), our wine and spirits editor, Patrick Sullivan and many more.

While not everyone can taste the wines during the competition, the public is invited to attend the AFWC Gala Dinner presented by Patriot Risk Management, scheduled to take place on March 13 at Lincoln Culinary in West Palm Beach, where all the wines in the competition will be poured. Yes, over 500 of them. In addition to serving amazing wines, this dinner will go to benefit the American Red Cross of Broward and Palm Beach Counties and the Quantum House in West Palm Beach. Information will be posted soon.